Fluid pumps, and more particularly fuel pumps for pumping fuel, for example, from a fuel tank of a motor vehicle to an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle, are known. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0047090 A1 to Marx et al. shows an example of such a fuel pump. It is known for fuel pumps to include an electric motor which rotates a pumping arrangement in order to pump fuel from an inlet of the fuel pump to an outlet of the fuel pump. The electric motor includes an armature with a shaft extending from each end thereof and rotationally coupled to the pumping arrangement such that opposing ends of the shaft are support by respective bearings. In use, the pumping arrangement may apply a side load to the shaft, consequently applying a side load to the interface between the shaft and the bearings. In order to provide suitable durability, it is necessary to use materials that are able to resist wear that results from the side load. Fuel pumps which have high side loading of the shaft may require the shaft and/or the bearing to be made of materials that tend to increase cost. Furthermore, the shaft may be allowed to wobble or oscillate laterally in the bearing as a result of the radial clearance between the shaft and the bearings. If the radial clearance is too large, the wobble or lateral oscillations of the shaft may generate noise and vibration that may be objectionable. In order to minimize lateral oscillations or wobble of the shaft, it is known to use very small clearances and tolerances between the shaft and the bearings which tend to increase manufacturing costs.
What is needed is a fuel pump which minimizes or eliminates one or more of the shortcomings as set forth above.